After long hours of negotiations, European transport ministers reached a political agreement on the revision of air passenger rights at a Council meeting in Luxembourg, on Thursday 5 June. This agreement comes 12 years after negotiations began and 21 years after the text was last updated.
The discussions got off to a bad start at the start of the day, with the first public debate revealing numerous disagreements between the Member States. Around 10 of them were unable to approve the latest version of the text.
The day before, Member States’ representatives to the European Union (Coreper) remained deadlocked over the thresholds for entitlement to compensation (see EUROPE 13653/17). The EU Council was divided into four groups: - those who support the Polish Presidency’s proposal, with thresholds of four and six hours, depending on distance; - those who support the European Commission’s initial proposal, with thresholds of five and nine hours; - those who prefer to stick with the current situation, with a threshold of three and six hours; - Germany, which suggested a single three-hour threshold for all flights.
To remedy this, the Presidency proposed a specific additional threshold of three hours’ delay for short flights, i.e. delayed outbound flights scheduled to return no more than 24 hours later. While some ministers felt that this lacked clarity, others felt that it would discriminate between passengers.
Automation of compensation forms. While ministers continued their discussions on other subjects, national technical experts continued their negotiations in parallel, reaching a compromise in the late afternoon. Dariusz Klimczak, Poland’s Minister of Infrastructure, interrupted another debate to consult his counterparts on this new draft, which ultimately produced a compromise.
The specific threshold of three hours was therefore withdrawn. The approved text includes an obligation for the air carrier to automatically transfer and complete compensation forms, “which will make it easier for passengers to obtain compensation in the event of flight cancellation”, explained the Minister. In addition, the safeguard clause includes the possibility of examining further automation.
While Austria and Estonia abstained, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia voted against. The german, portuguese, spanish and slovenian ministers are said to have preferred to stick with the three-hour threshold currently in force, as they fear a reduction in consumer protection, particularly for those living in outermost regions.
The Portuguese Secretary of State, Hugo Espírito Santo, also regretted that the costs of compensation were not shared between all the players, i.e. airports, handling and network operators. He also deplored the impact of reimbursement automation on the competitiveness of airlines.
For its part, Hungary would like the European Commission to prepare an analysis using information from the industry to assess the impact on passengers.
As announced, the Presidency is expected to conclude the first reading, which the European Parliament is contesting (see EUROPE 13641/16).
Air traffic. After the first public debate, ministers were given a rather alarming presentation of the air traffic congestion situation by Raúl Medina, the Director General of the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, Eurocontrol. The number of delayed flights has only increased since the Covid-19 pandemic. “We need competent controllers, good air transport design and technologically advanced systems to ensure that everything runs smoothly”, he said.
In the summer of 2024, the shortage of air traffic controllers caused 46% of delays and 51% of delays from January to May 2025, i.e. already 5% more. The number of black days increased fivefold. In the event of major delays, this costs around €20 million per day, a cost absorbed by the airlines.
“You must ensure that your air traffic control service providers, who are often public entities, offer what they have committed to offer in the network management plan”, said Mr Medina. He encouraged Member States to recruit air traffic controllers, which would give them greater operational flexibility. He would like airspace to be pre-designed in the most congested areas to increase capacity. Longer term, he called for greater computerisation and automation. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)